Excuses Excuses.

When I was a child my father used to sing part of this song (Excuses by the Kingsmen) to me a lot more that I would like to admit.  I was not always able to connect the dots then, but even now my ability is mediocre at best.  Like most of us, I am good (too good, if not repulsed by my ability) at finding the faults of others.  However, it is always my prayer that my faults are revealed to me.  What I need to always remember is that if I can find the fault in someone else, I am probably just as if not more guilty.  This week I want to consider some of the excuses I make that prevent us from living as Christ desires us to live.  Ephesians 5:10 says, "try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord."

I admit the idea of this topic was not exclusively my own.  It was implanted in my mind after a discussion in Sunday School about giving and discernment.  I was forced to ask myself "How cynical am I?"  My obsession with the subject started to grow. I continued to dwell on the thought that I might be hiding behind discernment. I was asking myself questions like, "How many times have I used similar excuses to limit giving of my time and resources?"  No one wants to be taken advantage of or look like a fool, but when do we cross the line? 

A few days ago I was in Target and a man (about my age) started a conversation with me about my wedding ring. Apparently, his ring was also made out of the same material, which caught his eye.  What a great opportunity I had to start a conversation about marriage and my beliefs, but instead I looked at him like he was crazy and tried to be just polite enough, yet show I was kind of busy.  It must have worked because he seemed to catch on then move on, but why did I do that? Because my immediate thought, after looking him over of course, was, "which multilevel marketing scheme did he want to tell me about... maybe Amway?"  After I walked away, I realized WHO CARES! So what if I discerned that he was trying to sell me something, why didn't I use that as an opportunity to learn something more about him and share the gospel?

So I though in light of these events, I would try to discern discernment and how we should approach giving.  Over the next few days I'll post about how the word is specifically used, how might it be implied elsewhere, and what else the NT says about giving alms and our attitudes.  I'm positive we shouldn't be meeting or presenting ourselves to the world as cynical.  Hopefully, this will serve as a way to remediate some of my poor excuses.